Scuba diver's Personal Locator Beacon - how never to be lost at sea

[DandyDon]

So from experiences now being shared here, the Nautilus is prone to flooding (some parachutes fail, too) and the rumor is they are moving away from walky-talkies for divers? So, if you're going to get a PLB, get one with 5 watts, that you can also carry in cars and backpacks.

Well, yea, you now have two emergency only devices and STILL no way to talk to the boat. And you really should have no need to open the new lifeline since it is of no use unless you are declaring an emergency, so less flooding issues with less function.

Nope...

That sucks. It sounds like a false advertisement. I'll cancel my order then.

 

[Dan]

Well, yea, you now have two emergency only devices and STILL no way to talk to the boat. And you really should have no need to open the new lifeline since it is of no use unless you are declaring an emergency, so less flooding issues with less function.

DandyDon & seeker242 convinced me that 1 watt is way too weak to send VHF distress signal to the boats. Might as well blow the air horn (Dive Alert) & flash lights when I see a boat a mile away. So, I cancelled my preorder of the new Nautilus Lifeline.

I'll stick with PLB1 for declaring an emergency. Activate it after floating for an hour & seeing no boat around.

 

[Dan]

When I registered the PLB1 to NOOA, the form asked me to enter checksum and I don't see such numbers in the PLB1, just UIN. But the checksum is optional. I'm just wondering would any other PLB devices have such checksum code?

 

[cvchief]

So from experiences now being shared here, the Nautilus is prone to flooding (some parachutes fail, too) and the rumor is they are moving away from walky-talkies for divers? ..

That being said, I would have bought another one of the old lifelines if the one I had flooded. Well, I mean the second one, since the first one flooded I really liked it except for the flooding.

In fairness, on the Nautilus site, there is VERY little info on the new one. maybe it will have something a little cool added for taking away the best part.

 

[DandyDon]

When I registered the PLB1 to NOOA, the form asked me to enter checksum and I don't see such numbers in the PLB1, just UIN. But the checksum is optional. I'm just wondering would any other PLB devices have such checksum code?

I only used the UIN. I saved a screen shot of my registration, and I don't see anything about a checksum. Maybe that's new.

 

[Dan]

I only used the UIN. I saved a screen shot of my registration, and I don't see anything about a checksum. Maybe that's new.

Supposedly 5 digit numbers, the 5 blank boxes to the right of the UIN

 

[DandyDon]

I can only guess that they are asking manufacturers to add checksum to the info provided so they can incorporate such in registration.

 

[seeker242]

That sucks. It sounds like a false advertisement. I'll cancel my order then.

I always wanted to know where and how exactly they got that 34 mile number, but I've never seen any information about it...It may be possible if the land station was on a mountain. The antenna height is really the most important thing as VHF is essentially line of sight.

I can only guess that they are asking manufacturers to add checksum to the info provided so they can incorporate such in registration.

Kind of. The checksum is basically a number to verify that you're entering the correct 15 digit UIN into the database and there's no typo. I've never seen it used in the USA. Australia/NZ has some regulations about it but I don't know if they use it yet.

 

[Dan]

I pulled out the PLB1 antenna just for grin. It's about 10" long. Looking at the picture of the Nautilus Lifeline, it's antenna seems way to short.

 

[cvchief]

Well considering the antenna is at, well, sea level....